


The Unexpected Argument.

by TheDarkestMindWithin



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Arguing, Established Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Hurt Ianto Jones, I Don't Even Know, Injury, M/M, Protective Jack Harkness, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:28:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22952581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkestMindWithin/pseuds/TheDarkestMindWithin
Summary: Without Beta.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Kudos: 49





	1. The Thundering Night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without Beta.

* * *

He trudges inside the house, the heavy rain outside covers the sounds of his arrival at the cost of his husband's favourite welcome matt. He promises that he'll replace it before Jack has the opportunity to notice, but the pain in his left side is now too painful for him to ignore or to dwell on minor things such as Jack's welcome matt when he's struggling to stay upright. He regrets refusing the pain relief offered to him at the scene but he'd had the vest on and had been in shock with adrenaline pumping through his body to dull the full effect of the gunshot wound but now all of those factors had passed and he was left with the throbbing agony.

He winces as he trudges along the wall and into the dark living-room, he doesn't dare turn on a light in case he alerts Jack to his return and he doesn't want to get into an argument with his head now pounding, he'd hit it when he had fallen from the shot, a mild concussion that would clear up in a few days, it wasn't the worst he'd had but Jack never liked to see him beaten now. He pours himself a glass of scotch and gingerly lowers himself into the couch, grunts lowly as he holds his side and presses the iced glass to his head, his eyes close for the first time in what feels like a lifetime.

The rain eases off after an hour or so, he's still in his wet clothes but he can't bring himself to move so he sits and acknowledges that he's ruining Jack's favourite sofa as well, he'd buy him a new one, Ianto thinks as he takes a sip of the icy alcohol, it doesn't do anything for him, only provides a burn down the back of his throat that tells him he's lucky to be alive. He closes his eyes again and considers letting his head fall back but the slight movement makes his headache return so he remains still and listens to the quiet world outside. He feels the familiar warm sticky feeling of blood on his fingers as he sits, the haphazard packaging the paramedics had done on sight had only meant to last a few hours under the assumption that Ianto would go to hospital to get himself patched up, he had opted out of that assumption and had decided to return home instead.

He considers calling for Jack as he's sure he can't pull himself up from the sofa and if he did he's sure he would fall back down again but just as he opens his lips in submission he hears the gentle creak of the stairs in the hall, the light patter of his daughter's feet as they descend the stairs and grow closer as she walks along the wood floor and peers into the darkened living-room, Ianto can't bring himself to say anything when she spots him. Her face lighting up as she runs and charges onto the sofa seat besides him, jostling his body as she does, he bites his tongue from revealing the agony the sharp movements causes him as her tiny arms wraps around his body.

"Daddy!" She grins, grazing up at his face with large wondrous eyes that Ianto had been in love with from the moment she'd been born, he smiles as tears of pain form at the corners of his eyes, he places his glass down and cuddles her as she cuddles him, the pain the movement brings more than worth it as he nuzzles his nose into her long curls of golden hair, she smells of Jack and she smells of home and Ianto can't bring himself to imagine never seeing her again.

"Why aren't you asleep, miss?" Ianto asks when she pulls back from him, shyly grinning at him as she sheepishly admits she heard him come in and didn't know who it was, Ianto doesn't admonish her as his fingers shakily stroke through her soft hair, his fingers brushing her cheek as he kisses her forehead. "Don't tell Pop that I let you stay up," Ianto says as his little girl settles into his side, nuzzling down sleepily as she promises she won't, he drifts to sleep with her, just as comforted by her presence as she is by his.


	2. Birdsong In The Calm Morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without Beta.

* * *

Ianto wakes to birdsong.

It's an irreversibly _human_ sound to wake up to, on all the planets he'd ever been to he'd never heard a bird sing quite like the ones on his native Earth, he smiles for a second or two as his listens but then the pain creeps back, the pain in his side and his head, the aches of his body. It all seeps back in like ink bleeding across a piece of paper, he winces and groans weakly as he clutches his side which is swollen from the injuries he'd sustained the previous night. He can only imagine the deep purples and black colours his skin must have turned by now, he can't bring himself to look beneath the covers to confirm his suspicions. But the pain is only a part of what comes back to him now.

Last night he hadn't moved from the sofa but now he found himself in his bed. He hadn't changed from his clothes and yet he was no longer in the ruined clothes but rather he found himself in a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing else. He hadn't treated his wounds and now he found his torso bound in fresh bandages beneath the covers, the gunshot wound on his side freshly packed, but he had no recollection of how these things had happened. "And here I was thinking you were simply having an affair," He jumps at the sound of his voice, winces and holds his side as he snaps his head up with another sharp wince to meet Jack's form.

He stands in the doorway of their bedroom, a white cotton t-shirt and dark jog pants on, Ianto can almost fool himself into believing it's just like any other morning waking up with him but he can't, not with Jack's arms folded across his chest, an all-too-familiar look of disapproval on his face that makes Ianto drop his gaze in shame. "So, unless your lover got handy with a nice piece of alien gun tech when they found out about your all-too-gorgeous-for-words husband," He pauses as if Ianto will reveal that that's exactly what happened, Jack's lips quirk into a smile that already knows that's not what happened. "No, I didn't think so." He sighs, and there's silence between them that Ianto could never stand but he can't bring himself to make his voice work, not with Jack looking at him with the hidden hurt and near heartbreak. He's fucked up, more than he cares to admit. "What were you thinking?!" His voice is loud and harsh and demanding. Ianto cringes away from the boom, ashamed and without excuses good enough to give his husband. "Are you suicidal? Do you like gun play now?" Jack continues to interrogate, letting his anger known as Ianto struggles to find words good enough to voice. "Not only did you nearly get yourself killed, you let _our dau_ \- " Jack's voice wavers for a split second before he takes a breath to recompose himself. Puting himself back into check before continuing. "You let our daughter _see_ you like that!" There's nothing Ianto can say to make the situation get better, to go away, he just listens to his husband's anguish without objection or denial.

"Where is she?" Ianto dares to ask when Jack's taking a breath to keep from blowing a fuse. He looks at the injured man with one of the harshest scowls he's ever bestowed upon his love and withholds the information as he pushes their bedroom door shut and crosses the space between them, settling on the side of the bed, watching as Ianto's face contorts with pain at the dip Jack causes in the bed with his weight. The desire to comfort him now threatens to override the anger, seeing how much pain the man is clearly in. "She's sleeping," His voice comes out a fraction softer than it had been and Ianto looks at him thankfully for not being denied the assurance. "How bad was I?" He asks, he knows he wasn't in pretty shape but his concussion was making good efforts to keep the events of the past few days foggy in his head as Jack moves to pour out a glass of water on the side table. "Oh, not too bad," He lies thinly, helping Ianto drink the water. "Just a couple of pints of blood blood, a couple of life threatening injuries here and there, a lot of fuss over nothing really." His eyes pierce the younger man's and he's once again rendered mute with useless excuses.

"I'm sorry." Ianto says, knowing that it's nowhere close to being enough. Jack sighs and nods his head, studying the man's face before leaning in close and kissing his lips with a feather light touch. "I know." He says.


End file.
